Daytona II: Paul Menard preview

Menard has made six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Daytona
International Speedway
The Eau Claire, Wis.-native holds down 23rd place in the NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series point standings
Paul Menard on Daytona: "There are a couple of variables...

Menard has made six NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts at Daytona
International Speedway

The Eau Claire, Wis.-native holds down 23rd place in the NASCAR Sprint
Cup Series point standings

Paul Menard on Daytona: "There are a couple of variables that will have
changed since the last time we were in Daytona. We've got the spoiler
this time around, and even though we had it when we went to Talladega
(Ala.) Superspeedway, Daytona is much more of a handling track than a
horsepower track like Talladega. That said, NASCAR has also mandated the
use of a larger restrictor plate this weekend so the cars will make more
horsepower. It should be kind of interesting to see how those changes
affect things this weekend.

"It's an impound race, but since qualifying isn't really that important
from a track position point of view, I'm sure we'll worry more about
getting the car to handle during the race than making it work for two
fast laps in qualifying. We were good at this track back in February,
but the track will have changed quite a bit from the heat of the last
couple of months, so that will throw another wrench into things. I'm
confident in my crew chief Slugger Labbe and this Menards team and I
feel good we'll have another great Menards Ford when we get there."

Crew Chief Slugger Labbe's Thoughts on DIS: "Daytona is going to be
a little different this time around. We're going back there with the
spoiler now versus the wing that we had in February, so a lot of the
car is going to change. That couple with the weather change and the
restrictor plate change should make things pretty interesting. We're
going to be looking for downforce instead of speed and it's an impound
race so we probably won't qualify as well as we would have hoped because
we're going to try to do a lot to make sure the car drives well during
the race. There will be some people that will go down there and try to
qualify well to get in the show and have a good pit stall, but I think
the approach we're going to take is to make sure that we have a car that
can handle and stay in the gas for the whole fuel run. What you fight in
Daytona is that the car won't turn and it's sliding all over the place
and you have to get out of the gas. We're treating this race in July as
a big intermediate track race. Not so much a restrictor plate race, but
an intermediate type race to get the car to handle and drive well so
Paul can stay in the gas."

Chassis History: Crew chief Slugger Labbe and the No. 98 RPM crew
have prepared chassis No. 675 for this weekend's event at Daytona
International Speedway. The team utilized this particular Ford Fusion
in the season opener at Daytona. Menard posted his best finish on the
2.5-mile superspeedway in that race.

Notes: Menard continues his double-duty efforts this weekend. Menard,
who is racing full-time in both the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup
Series will pilot the No. 98 Ford Mustang in Friday's Nationwide race.
He currently holds down sixth place in the driver point standings.